Kartell K-VIT Ottone Freestanding Bath Shower Mixer – Brushed Brass (TAP423OT)

Kartell K-VIT Ottone Freestanding Bath Shower Mixer – Brushed Brass (TAP423OT)

The Kartell K-VIT Ottone range is slim, round and minimal in brushed brass — cylindrical bodies, thin stick levers and no ornamentation. Kartell describe brushed brass as "the latest luxe style to take the interior design spotlight", and it is the warmest of the finishes they offer: a soft matt gold rather than a bright polished one.

This is the freestanding bath shower mixer — a floor-mounted tap on a tall column, designed to stand beside a freestanding bath rather than sit on its rim. It is the centrepiece of the range.

This needs planning before the floor goes down

A freestanding bath usually has no tap holes at all, so the tap has to come from somewhere else. This one rises from the floor on a single column, with a curved spout reaching over the rim and a shower handset on a hose.

The important part: it is plumbed up through the floor, so the pipework has to be run and the position fixed before you tile or board. Getting it wrong is not a matter of moving the tap a few inches later — it means lifting the floor. Measure carefully from the bath, and if the bath hasn't been chosen yet, choose it first.

It is much the heaviest piece in the range, and it gets leaned on and pulled at by the handset, so it needs solid fixing into the floor structure rather than just into a board.

Water pressure

Kartell rate this tap for pressures between 1 and 5 bar. The 1 bar minimum is the point to watch: a gravity-fed tank and cylinder will rarely reach it without a pump, so this one is for mains, combi or unvented systems.

That 1 bar minimum is worth taking seriously on this one in particular: the water has a long way to climb up the column, so a system that is already marginal will disappoint.

Before you order

The waste is sold separately. Freestanding baths usually need a specific waste and often a floor-routed trap, so factor that in — and in brushed brass to match.

Living with it

The ceramic disc cartridge with quarter-turn operation gives full flow from a small movement of the lever, and is far less prone to dripping than a washer tap.

Brushed brass is a coated finish, not solid metal, and the brushed texture is more forgiving of water spots than polished chrome — marks tend to disappear into the grain rather than sit on the surface. What it will not tolerate is abrasives: never use a cream cleaner, a scouring pad or a limescale remover on it, because those cut through the coating and the brass tone underneath cannot be restored. A wipe with a soft damp cloth is all it needs.

The rest of the Ottone range

The range also includes a mono basin mixer, a hi-rise version for countertop bowls, a wall mounted basin mixer, a bath filler, a bath shower mixer and a wall mounted bath spout.

The same tap in other finishes

Ottone is the brushed brass version of a design Kartell also make in polished chrome as Kore and in matt black as Nero Round. Same shapes, same mechanism — the finish is the only difference.

The chrome equivalent is the Kore freestanding bath shower mixer and the matt black one is the Nero Round freestanding bath shower mixer.

Specification

• Code: TAP423OT
• Brushed brass finish
• Solid brass construction
• Floor mounted freestanding column
• Ceramic disc cartridge, quarter turn operation
• Integrated diverter, shower handset and hose included
• Suitable for pressures between 1 and 5 bar
• Projection 296mm, weight 3.68kg
• Fixings supplied
• Waste sold separately
• 5 year guarantee (1 year on moving parts)
• Barcode 5055681470517

Downloads

Download the technical data sheet